


Before the Dawn

by Irrisia



Series: All in the Family [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: A Little Biting, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Human/Vampire Relationship, Mildly Possessive Behaviour, Multi, Oops, Polyamory, Vampire Family, Vampire killing, mentioned death, offscreen polydins, shameless displays thereof, vampire families are a little messed up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-21 13:43:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,149
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17044811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irrisia/pseuds/Irrisia
Summary: A vampire on a mission walks into a bar with his boyfriends.Lance should probably be worried, but it isn't their first time, and they can handle themselves. Hunk is less sure about that, but he knows his boyfriends will probably be okay. And Keith is busy staring the entire bar down, but that's why they bring him.





	Before the Dawn

They walk into the club- so stereotypical, with red lighting and black wood and a vaguely Victorian aesthetic that owes more to the 1980s than the real 1880s- and he knows what the people whose heads snap up think. He's all arms and legs and no real grace. Hunk is Hunk, still large and friendly and calm enough to seem docile. And Keith- Keith is wiry, where Lance just looks skinny. Controlled, where Lance's expressions and limbs sometimes get away from him a little. Plus, as Lance keeps teasing, Keith just looks like he's stuck in the 1990s with that mullet. Vampires so often end up a little time-lagged, Lance has noticed.

But the rest of the club isn't looking at them for any of those reasons. They're looking up because when the three of them walk in the room- at least one of them smells human. Which in a vampire club is kind of like waving a steak at eternally hungry dogs. And they look at him looking around with open curiosity and one hand in Hunk's. They look at Hunk hanging back a little, clearly awkward about the attention, and they look at Keith a little in front of both of them, and they always come to the same conclusion.

He knows. They do this a lot, and it's very rare a response surprises him.

But eventually everyone looks at Keith, and if nothing else Lance would love him for the way he looks totally unimpressed when he glares back from red eyes, chin raised just a little, no weakness in him at all. It's a look from before them, and Lance has been on the receiving end of it more than once himself, but he's gotten kind of fond of it, even if he knows it's usually because Keith thinks he's being an idiot. Aimed at other people, it's even better because it proves Keith is confident with the two of them behind him.

Lance grins a little dopily behind Keith, dull canines on display, and squeezes Hunk's hand, reminding him to relax. Hunk always gets tense at this bit, no matter how often they do this and how well he knows the looks will pass, because they always do. It's sweet he worries, but not helpful right now, and they need to not show the wrong kind of weakness in a room of predators. But eventually Hunk gets past it, squeezing back, gaze on Keith's back rather than the floor. A little nervous, but clearly more relaxed now.

As expected, once people see the human smell isn't coming from an unprotected intruder, and so isn't fair game (yet), they pretend to look away- pretend being the operative word, and a lot of them are bad at it. Lance amuses himself by counting how many times he spots someone trying to get away with a stealthy look at them as Keith leads them to the bar, orders and pays. Hunk picks up the drinks, like he always does, and they head to a booth, a little out the way but not so far people can't continue looking.

That's Lance's fault, really. Hunk would prefer somewhere more isolated, he knows, and Keith really doesn't care and will sit at a _table_ , the heathen, if it means he gets to glare at people who get too close. They usually switch off on who gets to pick, but tonight is Lance's choice, and he likes it when people can see them, and he likes being able to see the rest of the room. 

Besides, Lance is shameless and doesn't care if people see them getting close. In fact, he enjoys it. Whatever other people think, he's got Hunk and Keith, and if other people don't realise what that means or the real reasons why they should totally be jealous, that's their problem. He settles in the booth last, Keith between him and Hunk, the way that feels safest. He's blatantly close, thigh pressed to Keith's, warm to cold, and he can see Hunk just as close the other side, and wordlessly they both rest their arms around Keith's shoulders, glad for the chance to all be touching.

Keith used to complain about that, but he's stopped trying. Mostly because neither Lance or Hunk has much of a sense of personal space with each other either, so it's clearly pretty pointless in the long term. Also, Lance hopes, because Keith's started enjoying it. He's a whole lot less stiff than he used to be, at least, even if he still occasionally elbows them if he feels too smothered. Which, okay, is often, because _no personal space_ , but still. It's getting better.

But for tonight, he plays along. He sits between Hunk and Lance, relaxed despite the way they're both pressed close, a little unit of three on display.

And then it's just waiting. They sip their drinks, talk in low murmurs over the background music, blatantly ignoring the rest of the room, occasionally teasing Keith into looking at one or the other of them. He's pretty sure this is Hunk's favourite part, when it just feels kind of like a date, even if the conversation isn't really terribly romantic.

"You see him?" Keith questions, taking a sip of his drink. 

Lance scans the room, squinting a little because red light makes everything a little hazy, eyes roaming without ever settling. "One o'clock, staring right at us" he replies with a lazy smile, turning to look at Keith. It's much nicer than meeting than keeping his eyes on the person looking at them; there's something sly and dirty in the look, something that makes his skin crawl and bristle simultaneously. In comparison, Keith is clean and sharp and strangely comforting.

Keith clearly doesn't have the same feeling of disgust, head snapping up to look in that direction, one eyebrow up. On the other side of him, Hunk sighs nervously at the obvious challenge. For a moment Lance is in full agreement, but he taps against Hunk's arm anyway because they're here for a _reason_ and Keith is doing exactly what he's supposed to be doing. Being obviously worried isn't going to help at all.

"Sorry," Hunk apologises, and Lance taps again more nicely, forgiving, and smiles at him warmly. Hunk's always been nervous, and Lance has had plenty of time to get used to it. He still volunteers to come with them, and that means more than a moment of weakness.

"Stop flirting, he's coming this way," Keith interjects with that sixth sense he has about them doing something behind him, although without the anger he would have had once. There might even be some kind of affection in there, although it's well hidden- then again, den of predators. He and Hunk can get away with warmth and pretend innocence, but Keith is their shield here. Warmth from him would ruin the whole thing.

It doesn't stop Lance leaning in, lips brushing over Keith's temple, and it's such a pleasant moment when Keith accepts it without question, one hand dropping to rest on Lance's thigh for a moment. "Showtime," Lance whispers, and Keith's jaw clenches a little before he makes himself relax. He squeezes Lance's leg in acknowledgement, before he brings his hand back up to table level. It says something for their relationship that he lets Lance see that little expression of concern, though, and Lance lets himself have another very brief genuine smile.

The owner of that stare approaches their table, and up close it's worse. Lance can almost feel it as a physical presence, it's that slimy. But he makes sure to look up this time, smile gone now, eyes wide and friendly, as if he's not quite sure what's going on but isn't at all worried. Next to him, Keith looks suitably impassive. Half acting, half distracting himself, Hunk leans in against Keith more, eyes almost closed as he rests his head on Keith's shoulder.

"Something I can help you with?" Keith asks, voice sullen in a way it so rarely gets with them any more. Reminded, Lance is pretty glad of that, because Keith can go from embers to inferno in no time flat, and that's only fun occasionally.

"Doesn't bringing _two_ pets with you seem a little unfair?" the vampire asks- the _other_ vampire, really. "Really, you should know better than that."

Keith shrugs, hand rising to brush through Hunk's hair- and probably cover his expression, too. Even Hunk has limits, and being called a pet is pretty rude. Even if they are playing the part right now. "Not my fault that I'm clearly better at finding them than anyone else here," Keith says, tone still flat, eyes on the other vampire's neck like he's considering ripping it open.

The other vampire actually makes a chiding noise, and Lance is surprised Keith only gets as far as bunching muscles, rather than leaping over the table. "Hasn't your sire taught you to share?" the other vampire purrs.

"I have no sire," Keith says, more heated, sounding genuinely irritated but also a little nervous. If it were true, and he was a vampire disowned by his sire- well, there's little chance he has back-up, and that makes him more vulnerable. Angry but nervous is how people would expect him to be. "But if it gets you to go away, you can borrow one of them for a little while. I want him back, though. They came as a pair, and I want to keep them that way." Which is technically true- Hunk and Lance were a pair long before Keith turned up in their lives. It also sounds like typical vampire arrogance, as if Keith thinks of them as not much more than horses or ornaments. The whole thing is pretty well acted, in Lance's opinion, and definitely better than Keith's previous attempts.

Lance makes himself blink, and the vampire's attention switches back to him. Lance plays it up, eyelids fluttering a little in a way he knows Keith finds utterly ludicrous, but- it certainly seems to work. He can see the moment the other vampire marks him as a dumb glamour-struck human.

"How lucky," the other vampire says. "Which one do I get to- ah, borrow?"

Keith turns his head to look, and Lance just smiles back in a way he knows looks stupid but Keith will find reassuring. "Lance," he says, and Lance nods, making sure he keeps eye contact, the way he would if Keith was actually hypnotising him. "Why don't you follow him and go give me and your boyfriend some time here? You'd like that, wouldn't you?" Lance nods again, and scrambles to his feet, hands shoved in his pockets, looking as if there's nothing he wants to do more than follow that suggestion. Then again, there actually is nothing he wants more because this is the reason they're here, but it's his own will that gets him to his feet and nothing Keith does. "Do as he says, got it?"

"Got it," Lance says, using his best breathy tone, and he can see Keith's eyebrow, the one the other vampire hopefully can't see, go up at him incredulously- although the rest of his expression thankfully stays fixed. Okay, maybe Lance is overdoing it, but he's got to have his fun somewhere.

Keith's attention goes back to the other vampire. "Take him somewhere else, though. Just send him back when you're done."

The other vampire is much worse at keeping his expression under control, and Lance can see the moment of condescension. "Of course," he lies, blatantly. "Come along... Lance, was it?"

"That's me," Lance says, in that overeager way he's always seen in real hypnosis victims. "Maybe we can go to the back? I've heard there are cool private rooms back there, but Keith never takes me in them..." Lance knows what goes on in those rooms usually, though. Soundproof, easily cleaned. Humans don't always come back from them.

That makes them perfect for the plan.

The vampire smiles, and it's cruel and cold and not at all like Hunk's grins or Keith's reluctant quirk of the lips or even Allura's patient diplomatic smile. Lance doesn't think he'd feel bad about this at all- so neither will Lance. "Oh? I'll show you one, then, if your owner won't." Lance manages not to laugh at that assumption, but it's close.

It's not a long walk from the table Lance picked to a discreet door next to the bar. The corridor behind it is even more dimly lit, and Lance pauses for a moment, like he's worried. The vampire clicks his tongue again, and orders Lance to follow, so he does. The hallway is short, with doors either side, and the vampire heads on until he finds an open one. He heads in, and Lance-

Lance follows, all right. He closes the door behind them, and lets his glamour slip. By the time the other vampire turns around to see what the hold up is, Lance is grinning, canines properly pointed again, head tilted a little as he fixes red eyes on his prey. Keith's very human smell is fading from his skin, already, but it's done its job. The other vampire snarls, made aware he's stepped into a trap.

"Shiro says hi," Lance says, conversationally. "Takashi Shirogane? You probably don't remember him, but he remembers you."

Sure enough, the name means nothing to the other vampire, brow furrowing in confusion. Lance isn't surprised- vampires that can rip a man's arm off and then leave him to bleed to death probably aren't going to remember just one victim in many. He just gives them the name because Shiro deserved better. The confusion switches to annoyance easily, and Lance sighs. Clearly this is a talker, and yes, Lance knows he doesn't have much room to complain there, but other vampires are always the creepy kind of talker and Lance has to give them a chance to spill and he really wants to go back to Keith and Hunk already.

"Stop this stupidity. I don't know what you think you're doing, but Lord Zarkon will not-" the vampire starts, trying to sound in control.

"Ah, see- Zarkon doesn't much like me anyway," Lance interrupts, because ugh, these threat speeches always go the same, and he's not about to let a guy this slimy have _any_ satisfaction. "But if you want to tell me where he is, that would be pretty useful."

"Lord Zarkon will kill you," the vampire blusters, but Lance has enough experience to see the fear. No idea, clearly, so not that close to Zarkon. And clearly not one of the dangerous members of Zarkon's entourage, because they'd have tried to end him by now.

They probably wouldn't _succeed_ , but at least they'd have tried.

"I don't think Zarkon will even notice you're gone," Lance says, softly. "Shame. I keep hoping to wind him up. We want him to know we're coming for him."

Before the other vampire can speak, the little wrist mounted crossbow Pidge built for Lance fires, wooden bolt leaving a neat hole in the other vampire's chest for a moment, before the corpse collapses to ash. He'll have to remember to be suitably appreciative to her when he gets back, maybe kiss her; that was almost too easy.

He'd feel guilty, but any vampire bringing a human- even a fake human- to a room like this that stinks of blood and death was never going to be particularly safe for the rest of the world. And whatever he's become, whatever Allura made him that day so long ago now, he still isn't about to let indiscriminate killers run loose. Especially not ones that threaten his family. Other killers, he supposes, looking at the ash, although it's still a running debate with Pidge and Hunk if killed is the right terminology for taking out another vampire.

It's much faster going back to the booth, or just feels like it, maybe, because at the other end is Keith and Hunk. He can see them, although the red light interferes with his vision a little, makes everything a little fuzzy- it's why most vampire clubs use it. Getting closer, he can see Hunk is now leaning back in the seat with a little dazed smile and- ah, yeah, slight red traces still in the corners of his lip. Keith is leaning against him almost limply, eyes half-closed, wrist held to his chest as he waits for the healing to finish, and honestly, if it wasn't kind of cute he'd be mad. As it is, he's going to use it to get his way.

"You fed while I was gone _again_?" he whines, as he slides in the seat next to Keith again, pressing up against warmth again as soon as he can. "I was literally gone five minutes, Hunk."

"I got nervous, and it was way longer than that," Hunk says, and opens his eyes, the same red as Lance's now. They smile over Keith's head, all warmth and sharp fangs, until Keith makes a quiet noise, waking up a little from the daze bites always put him in. Eyes open, it's clear he's taken the red contacts out, and Lance likes the purple much better.

"You're gross," he says, flatly, but doesn't move away from Hunk, or look anywhere else. "And anyway, I offered if it meant he stopped fretting about you getting yourself killed. He only took a little, anyway."

Lance whines again, giving Keith a betrayed look. "You enabler," he accuses. "Stop encouraging him. And you-" he looks at Hunk with the same look,"-when have I ever gotten myself hurt?"

Hunk gives him a look. "All the time, Lance," he says, and okay, that's fair. But not in a way Lance wants to encourage, because he's the oldest in this family except Allura and it's his job to get hurt if it means no-one else does. Especially Allura, because without her they're all dust. Literally.

"You could always let me go kill the next one," Keith says, almost sullen again, but he pushes away from Hunk a little, leans up to kiss Lance more openly now. Being bitten always seems to put him in a weird half-argumentative, half-affectionate mood. "Then neither of you would have to worry about it."

"Nuh-uh, no way," Lance says straight away, and Hunk echoes it. It's just- Keith is still human, and he could get hurt if things go wrong. Lance and Hunk heal faster, and very few vampires are carrying the things that could seriously harm them. Keith is looking at him, though, and Lance back-pedals a little, because that's the idiot glare again. "Not that we don't think you totally could, if you wanted to, because I have seen you with a stake and it is utterly terrifying. But if we lose you, we lose a tactic that works."

"What, using me as bait?" Keith might not be a vampire, but he can bite, and he's still close enough to Lance's lip to get away with it. "You only want me around because I smell like human."

"You're not bait," Hunk says firmly, one arm slipping around Keith's waist, and Keith can't be that mad if he isn't fighting it off. Then again, Hunk is always better than Lance at knowing what to say.

" _I'm_ bait, and very pretty bait, too" Lance says, cheerfully, leaning in for another kiss despite the hopefully small danger of being bitten by blunt human teeth. "And smelling like a human is just a bonus. You know we like you more than that by now, right?"

Keith glares at him, even if the effect is a little ruined by the fact he's still coming down from Hunk's feeding. "If you liked me that much, you'd turn me."

Lance's unbeating heart still manages to twist, because- yeah. "We will," he says. "Or Allura will, anyway. It's just- we _all_ want you to have a couple more years human, first." He looks at Hunk again, and then back at Keith.

Hunk looks back at him, and then down at Keith. "We didn't choose this," Hunk says softly, and Lance knows he's picturing the alley he died in, the room they found Pidge in, the scrapyard Shiro was left in. Lance is remembering his own death, for that matter. He wouldn't give up what he is and has now, but- he wouldn't have minded a few more years. "Give it time to make sure you want to. It's a long time to be dead, otherwise."

"And if you do, we'll be happy to have you," Lance adds. "Even if you'll be the broodiest vampire ever and we have to find entirely new ways of taking out all the assholes on the list and we can't use you as a hand-warmer any more." And maybe they should try harder to make sure Keith wants to live, or kept him out of all this, but- he followed Shiro in and insisted on being part of things even when he didn't much trust them or like them. And they can't push him out now without hurt on both sides that they really don't want to cause. He's part of their family, whether he or they like it or not.

Lance hadn't, once. But Keith has grown on him, especially with his help on these missions. He's proved he's as dedicated to first Shiro and then his family as Lance is. If he wants to stay, it will probably be the second time in his life he's chosen to let people in. And like all vampires, they're not going to turn down an invitation like that.

Keith eyes him for a moment, but eventually it obviously gets too much like work to keep it up, and he holds his other wrist up in front of Lance's face with a snort. "You're just saying that because you want to feed and I'm not playing along." But it's softer this time, Keith's eyes a little less hard.

Lance smiles brightly, and takes the arm in his hand before he kisses the inside of Keith's wrist. A stupid gesture, maybe, but one he likes making for the people who let him. "Only fair, right? Hunk gets to bite you while I'm gone all the time." But Keith does smell very human when he's literally in Lance's face, and- predator. Lance is biting down hard before he thinks about it, although he barely takes a couple of mouthfuls before he pulls back.

He doesn't need more than that, when he's not really hungry. It just tastes nice and leaves him a little pleasantly dazed and makes sure any other hungry eyes in the room know how things really are. And he likes the way Keith takes a heavy breath and relaxes again, eyes half-closed as he leans back, because it's incredibly difficult to get him to be anything but stubborn and tense sometimes. Lance licks his wrist once, the better to encourage healing, and then lets go, choosing to lean in against the two of them instead. Hunk is strong enough to support both of them, the evening went well, and they all just totally showed off to a room full of other vampires.

"Not too much longer," Hunk murmurs, but he's brushing Lance's hair back, so he can't be that eager to move. "The others are waiting back at the lair, remember? Shiro's going to be pretending not to be frantic if we don't get back soon, and Allura and Pidge will want to hear how it went."

That's the one thing that will get Keith and Lance moving quickly, frankly, but they still give it a couple of minutes. The time post bite when everything is distant and serene and feels good is too amazing to pass up completely, but home and family call. And even Keith isn't immune to that, any more.

Soon enough, they're up and moving. Lance is still more joints than grace, and Hunk is still placid and heavy, and neither of them look very much like a vampire should, he knows. They weren't picked for looks, and they don't waste glamour on it either. Keith, between them, is still closer to looking like the idea of a vampire than they are. This time, though, he can feel the eyes on all three of them. He smiles back with very obvious teeth, letting himself look dangerous now, and notices Hunk doing the same. Between them, Keith makes another noise, obviously not impressed by the posturing, but he keeps his head up defiantly.

They leave almost the way they came in, although this time with Keith between them, one hand for each of the vampires he came in with. And whatever the predators behind them think-

It no longer matters at all.

**Author's Note:**

> Running with the cliches. Allura is a born vampire, so she's the only one that can turn them, and she makes a habit of only turning people about to die from other vampire attacks. Lance was first, about 150 years ago, then Hunk, then Pidge- roughly lion order, basically. Shiro is about 3 months turned and still recovering from a pretty vicious attack. Keith gets to wait two years, to cover the abyss. Also, because everyone else is vampires, he gets to be human to be the odd one out. Sorry, Keith.
> 
> I say polydins because my version of vampire "siblings" end up pretty close and that's definitely the background implication, but I wanted to focus on these three this time. Also these three might be a little closer than the rest, just because they're usually the ones doing these missions.
> 
>  if you want to talk I'm [here on tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/adistantsea) or [here on pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.io/adistantsea)
> 
> ~~shh you see no Evanescence references~~


End file.
